[April 28, 2014]CAIRO
(Reuters) — Egypt has
discovered its first case of the potentially deadly Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in an Egyptian citizen who had recently
returned from Saudi Arabia, Egypt's Ministry of Health said on
Saturday.

The virus, which can cause coughing, fever and
pneumonia, has spread from the Gulf to Europe and has already caused
over 90 deaths.

The patient, 27, is being treated for pneumonia at a Cairo hospital
and is in a stable condition, the ministry said in a statement.

The man, who is from the Nile Delta, was living in the Saudi capital
Riyadh, the ministry said.

Saudi Arabia, which has been hardest-hit by the MERS virus,
announced on Friday it had discovered 14 more cases in the kingdom,
bringing the total number to 313.

Although the number of MERS infections worldwide is fairly small,
the more than 40 percent death rate among confirmed cases and the
spread of the virus beyond the Middle East is keeping scientists and
public health officials on alert.

A spokesman for the World Health Organization in Geneva said on
Friday it was "concerned" about the rising MERS numbers in Saudi
Arabia urging for a speedy scientific breakthrough about the virus
and its route of infection.

Saudi authorities have invited five leading international vaccine
makers to collaborate with them in developing a MERS vaccine, but
virology experts argue that this makes little sense in public health
terms.